Resilience: Key to Success

RESILIENCE: KEY to SUCCESS

Resilience is a word you don’t hear too often but it’s a valuable character trait.

When life is flowing easily, who needs resilience? It’s when life gets hard or seems to come to a standstill that it becomes an asset.

When I think of resilience I think of palm trees bending with the wind. I think of water flowing around the boulder in a stream. I think of perseverance. I think of options. If I can’t go right, what happens if I go left?

A Note of Encouragement

My brother sent some notes from a recent conference. His comments caused me to consider the connection between resilience and success.

He said, “You will either have resiliency or depression, discouragement and stagnation.” As a caregiver I had already decided I wanted to avoid that negative trilogy.

His next comment surprised me. “Your note indicates to me that you are following the prescription for success in life, being resilient. Keep it up.” That was encouraging! I went back to my email to see what he meant?

Resilience in Action

The first thing I read was about our driving adjustment. People who know me well know I’ve always identified with Driving Miss Daisy. For over fifty years my husband enjoyed driving and I enjoyed the ride. Now I drive and he rides. Our agreement that he won’t tell me HOW to drive is kept ninety-nine percent of the time.

I also shared how we were planning to pay off bills without the extra income option. Then I had written “Hey . . . God is good! Life is rolling along and I’m trying to give myself LOTS of freedom since I’m on tap all the time. I so enjoy reading since I can pick it up and lay it down. Writing is too consuming in many ways, so I’m happy just to keep up my weekly inspirational story.”

Years ago, my husband and I took seriously a comment made by a dear friend: “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken.” That simple reminder was something I was still trying to put into practice.

Tears for How Long?

A recent devotional was based on Psalm 84:5-7. It mentions people on a pilgrimage passing through the Valley of Baca. The Amplified Bible explains it as the valley of weeping. As a caregiver I admit I have shed tears of disappointment and frustration. But early on I made up my mind I did not want to remain in the valley.

These few verses reminded me that our journey from earth to heaven is a pilgrimage, filled with challenges and unknowns. Yet we can move forward from strength to strength in faith that comes from God.

Faith lifts me up, out, over, around, or past challenges that threaten to be insurmountable, unstoppable, or unsolvable.

Wanted: Resilience

When tears come I’ll let them flow, but the valley of tears is not where I want to remain. My choice is to pursue resilience, a key to success.